Like a lot of you online, I've made some awesome friendships with people internationally via the internet. It's an amazing thing that you can literally form bonds, meet people, build friendships and feel less alone by using the internet.
Personally living in Australia, I've got friends from Russia and China on the MQL5 forums, friends from the states on my google+ profile, interpals friends from across Europe, and even staying in contact with people over in the pacific islands via online forums. But what about people who want to move to Australia?
Here is the Milky way, seen from Australia on certain times of the year, from a town called Byron Bay, in northern New South Wales.
I have a friend who had recently moved across to Sydney from India (Goa, a beautiful part of India). She was told that Australia is the land full of opportunities. She was promised beaches, sun, sand & surf, jobs galore, friendly people, good beer, and handsome men. She tells me how she now has $13 left to her name, nowhere to live, her wages aren't being paid on time and because she has no network of friends or relatives, she cannot even get another job interview somewhere else no matter how hard she tries. It's shocked her, to the point where she has been in tears that she was told about an amazing country full of opportunities, and how different it is once she arrived here.
After listening to her, I would like to provide a list of pros and cons that I found in every part of the country that I have lived in, so that more people can have a REAL idea about what it's like living here:
Perth, Western Australia
Where I grew up,went to school, loved and lost as a teenager... is across in the wild west.
Pros
THE most beautiful city to live in, from anywhere I have lived or travelled. The only river that is clean enough to swim in during summer. One thing that I have not found anywhere else is parts of the river that were only known to locals, a series of limestone cliffs which were jotted across the river, anywhere from 1 meter to 40 meters off the river surface. There were many memories jumping off those limestone cliffs into the river to cool off in summer... then heading into Fremantle, namely the little creatures brewery to grab a pint, poured directly from the silo. Plus being west, watching the sun set over the water.
Spending all the time at the beaches, found all up and down the coast, and growing up spending weekends as a junior surf lifesaver... going for surfs in the northern beaches, and trying to avoid shark attacks in the southern beaches. The summers were the best, the water was absolutely beautiful, and the stunning visual beauty of the city is something I do miss mostly about the city.
Cons
If you don't work in the mines, then you don't work at all, unfortunately. The unspoken rules of Perth is that you're either a FIFO (fly-in, fly-out) worker who heads to the mines in the northern Pilbara region, where you will earn as much as $150,000AUD annually for a position as mundane as a security guard; and the average salary regardless of qualifications or skill is in the $250,000AUD region. This means that of course everyone will spend all of their waking hours trying to gain employment in the mines. You'll commonly find people who will work in the mines or not work at all, meaning it's common to see someone who hasn't worked in 2+ years scoff at anything less than $100k.
This means that because of the mining boom, the cost of living is almost equivalent to the eastern city of Sydney, but with far less work. That means you can expect to work somewhere in the city, on a wage the same as anywhere in the country, however the cost of living is far higher. Property prices have gone up to the point where most first home buyers are locked out of the market, yet you cannot afford a decent living standard unless you work in the mines. This means that commonly, any vacancy in the mining world will attract (literally, I kid you not) upwards of 12,000 resumes per vacancy.
It also means that you cannot get a job in the mines unless you know someone who works in the mines. Yes that's right, regardless of your skills and experiences, you won't get a job to have a standard of living in Perth unless you know someone who works there. Forget about qualifications and forget about merit, unless you can become mates with a hiring manager you haven't got a chance.
Ultimately, what is commonly known to Australians as "Bogans", are the people who run Perth and who can afford to live in Perth. You'll be revered by acquaintances for how much you can drink and how big of a burnout you can do, because when people with little skills have large and disposable income, you bet your bottom dollar that you can spot a FIFO worker by their southern cross tattoo and their commodore ute with a slab of emu export in the back.
Melbourne, Victoria
The most livable city, more affordable, and you would still be visiting new bars if you visited a new bar every night for one year.
Pros
Melbourne, an incredibly vivid city, is absolutely bursting with life. The people are friendly, and skills and merit are rewarded with gainful employment, whether you are a backpacker or you have lived there your whole life. They have retained their old tram tracks, and you would never need to own transport and you would never have a trouble getting around the inner, or the outer metro area.
You can go out for a good night, and you'll never be surrounded by angry people. People control themselves far more, and you will always go home after making new friends that you will stay in contact with. There is plenty of work, there are countless cheap eats, and you'll be guaranteed to make friends with a band that will end up being featured on Triple J up and coming artists (Radio show), and you'll be able to tell everyone how you were friends with the band before they were famous Check google for a band called RUFUS, now called RUFUS Du Sol, yep! I got to Jam with the band at the Northcote social club when they were visiting, before they released their EP album and they now travel across the world. True story!
Cons
No matter how much there is to do, you'll be pressured to join a countless number of causes. As well as that, you'll be guaranteed to be pressured into doing some form of illicit substances.
Every weekend, you'll see a protest in the city during the day as well. You'll be told if you're not protesting, then you're not trying hard enough to live a good life. You'd better believe you're protesting for more women's rights, or for lower student fees, or for legalization of marijuana, or for cheaper medicare, or for higher taxes on corporations. But don't expect the protesters to know what they're protesting... If you've ever watched 'Penn and Tellers Bullshit!' series, the Melbourne protesting crowds are likely to sign a petition banning DiHydrogen Minoxide, because it sounds like a dangerous chemical, before they actually know what it is. You'll be greeted with angry gangs of 'joiners' rather than a gainful crowd of 'thinkers'.
So you should join a protest before you ask what it's about. Expect to be shamed across social media if you don't believe that women are paid equal for the same roles, or that corporations are taxed fairly here, or if the Medicare Levy, of $56AUD a year, is too high to pay for public healthcare. Your argument will not matter, if you're the vernacular then you'll be shunned and told you don't deserve to be part of society. They don't argue, if you say anything against the majority then you're wrong.
If you're a backpacker, it's where you'll be welcomed and you'll be able to find work. However you'll be pressured to join some form of cause or you'll be shunned!
Gold Coast, Queensland
It's got the beach and the theme parks.
Pros
Warm and sunny all the time!! It's a place that has a HUGE amount of opportunity, it's where the rich and famous come to visit, and because it isn't a major city, the housing is the cheapest from anywhere I have been. Expect to pay $200 per week for an average one bedroom apartment, where your front doorstep is quite literally the beach. Most people are so laid back that you'll be able to show up towork in thongs and you'll blend right in.
In fact, for a short while I didn't have a car, and I used to wear a suit during my weekdays running my old business, and I would take my skateboard around town. The number of japanese tourists I saw taking my photo means there's likely a photo of me in a japanese newspaper, a suited man riding a skateboard through surfers paradise.
It's where I started my business, because if you're an entrepreneur, you'll be among your own kind here. People love meeting new people and sharing new ideas, and after some time someone will give you a go, and set your business wheels in motion.
Cons
If you aren't a fan of cosmetic surgery or thigh tattoos, you'd better get out of town. Plus, you're going to worship bikies, or you're going to be beaten by bikies. Don't tell any of the self-appointed instagram models that you know they are buying their meth from the bar staff at Shooters, a popular biker own night club, because if you point out that their secret is obvious then you'll get glassed and then they will be praised on social media to their 5000 strong followers, most of which happen to follow another 5000 girls who look just like her.
ALL of Queenslands drugs are based on the gold coast. These aren't party drugs, it's ice. It's all over the gold coast. You can buy a boob job from cosmeditours including a thailand holiday, and you'll pay $50 a week so that you can finally get that bar job that hires girls based on how provocative they dress.
Or, you can become a street dealer, and end up going missing at the beach one night after a deal with the bandidos went wrong. Also, people will come after you if an accusation is made. The proof doesn't matter, if someone made an accusation and went to the effort to post it on social media, you'll have your phone number, address, photos all shared, and it won't ever go away. Even if it's wrong don't expect the person who shared it to make an apology.
Also expect to see teen mums everywhere and high unemployment. A lot of them are also strippers at hollywood showgirls, but if you say you recognize them you'll get blasted for pointing out their bad decisions.
Before you decide if gold coast is where you would fit in, jump on youtube and look for the pilot episode of 'what really happens on the gold coast'... It got pulled after one episode, because they felt that if this went public,no one would ever visit the gold coast again. Yes I'm serious.
Sydney, New South Wales
HUGE city, HUGE crowd, and HUGE corporations
Pros
It's got great public transport, Sydney airport is Australias central hub for international flights, so you'll be able to fly here cheaper than anywhere else in Australia. There's a lot of businesses here, and a lot of business networking.
Cons
Don't move there. Just don't. Unless you enjoy a working environment where it's shank-or-be-shanked. You'd better be prepared to make someone else lose their job over something trivial that you set up for them, if you want that promotion. Or you'd better expect to never be able to drum up any new business without sleeping with the client or getting them drunk. People blackmail, lie, steal and cheat one another to get anywhere. If you find yourself in a decent paying job that means youll actually be able to afford to live in a city where a 3 bedroom house in Bondi is literally worth more in USD than a castle in Italy or France, chances are your boss will be screwing someone over every week, and you'd just better hope he doesn't need to screw you over. Enjoy going in to work with that paranoia every day. This isn't just one workplace, this is everywhere across the metro region.
So before you move to Australia... Ask locals what it's really like living there! Don't get surprised when it isn't all surf & turf like all the ads tell you...